The Starter no.17

We’d rather be golfing. I want to take this opportunity to shout out the First Tee of Tampa Bay. For the past month, me and my 6 year old daughter have ventured over to our local course on Saturday mornings so she can tee it up for an hour with a dozen other youngsters. It’s become our favorite hour of the week. She gets her natural athleticism from her mom and has a nice little move for a kid, so much so that she has already crowned herself the long drive champion of the little girls group. Unfortunately for her, looks like she has inherited her old man’s feel around the greens so hopefully that works itself out over time 😆. Who knows if she’ll ever catch the full golf fever like her dad, but for those 60 minutes every weekend she sure gets a kick out of hitting that little white dimpled ball. Cheers to anyone reading this who has volunteered or supported their local First Tee chapter. I’ll be a fan and supporter for life. - MM

An Offer He Couldn’t Refuse

Is he or isn’t he? Ever since close friend and Ryder Cup teammate Jon Rahm made the jump over to LIV Golf, Tyrell Hatton has been at the center of the speculation on the next star to defect from the PGA Tour. As reports began to surface earlier this week that the Saudi PIF, PGA Tour, and DP World Tour are closing in on finalizing the long-awaited deal to unify men’s professional golf, a last minute Hail Mary from The Shark and his team in the black and white has lured the eccentric Englishman Hatton to join the rebel league just in time for the start of their 2024 season in Mayakoba. He joins promotions qualifier Kieran Vincent and top amateur Caleb Surratt who will forego his eligibility at the University of Tennessee to join Jon Rahm’s new Legion XIII GC.

Although Hatton had previously committed to playing at the the upcoming Tour events in Pebble Beach and Scottsdale, he consistently navigated questions about his overall long term commitment to the PGA Tour like a seasoned politician. At the Dubai Desert Classic where Hatton finished T31, he commented about his affiliation status by saying “At the moment I’m quite happy playing on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. There’s a lot of people who have had conversations and I don’t think there is anything to shy away from.” When asked to expound on his intent to stay on the traditional tour circuits, he replied: “As of right now, yes.”

As the case with each of the pros that make the jump over to LIV, it’s hard to blame them. Patton is set to reportedly earn $63 million, a far cry from the $500 million that his buddy and new teammate Rahm is rumored to have cashed in, but still nearly triple his on-course earnings on the PGA Tour. Unlike Rahm though, Hatton carries no major exemptions, and although his current position at #16 in the OWGR all but guarantees him a spot at Augusta come April, he has to hope that the agreement to unify golf comes quickly so he can continue to find himself competing at major tournaments. Either way, I can imagine he is sleeping easy at night knowing regardless of how low he goes against par for the remainder of his career he has 63 million reasons to not give a shit.

Who are the biggest losers of the whole deal? IMO, there are two. The first being Rory McIlroy, who in the span of 50 days has witnessed two of his closest Ryder Cup compadres jump ship and cause him to second guess every comment and critique he has made about the rival league over the past 18 months. Wednesday afternoon, Rory completed the full 180 when he dropped this beauty..

Second largest losers are the lifelong fans of burgeoning TGL super team Boston Common Golf. As of now, TGL eligibility depends on the players status on the PGA Tour so Hatton’s career in front of the big screen looks to have ended before it ever began. How Rory will go about replacing Hatton on the roster is definitely a storyline we will all be paying attention to throughout the course of the year. There is one name that is starting rise above the rest, and if you listen closely, you can almost hear the chants for “Blockiiiieeee, Blockiieeee!” echoing from Copley Square…

Pour one out for the original Boston Common Golf squad. The 30 for 30 on the Boston golf dynasty that could’ve been will be epic…

🚨 Late Breaking News! 🚨 

Could this be the announcement that men’s professional golf is coming back together!?!

Going for a Flawless Victory!

He’s heating up!!! Take me back to the days yelling this phrase while playing 2 on 2 in a friend’s basement on a mini door hoop. Ludvig Aberg brings BY home yet again which makes back-to-back pick winners! Of course, he had to 3-jack an eagle putt to keep me on my toes but in the end, there was never a question. Plenty of golfers are starting to take form as we head into February and there is no better battle ground than the cliffs of Pebble Beach…test your might!

Heading north up the coastline but just south of San Francisco…Go Niners…the always anticipated Pebble Beach Pro-Am. The two feature golf courses this week are Pebble Beach Golf Links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course.  There will be an 80-player stacked field for this signature event with NO cut.  All golfers will play one round at each course and then head back to Pebble Beach for the two weekend rounds. This reimagined format is believed to bring a fresh look to this event in hopes to create a strong product for years to come. 

Positional golf and small greens…Pebble Beach Golf Links in a nutshell. The bombers won’t be at an advantage this week, so our precision golfers get a boost. Jordan Spieth’s war path at Pebble Beach Golf Links is savage. His experience is vast, and he has simply played great golf at Pebble. Pick your poison on the size play here but Jordan Spieth to finish top 10 at +190 has me feeling like a schoolboy again (Dumb and Dumber). Lastly, the only way to turn up the heat is to pick a man who is on fire. With a top 20 finish at +110, I am a big fan of Tommy Fleetwood. Yes, he didn’t have the strongest showing at The Sentry, but he has come to form in his last two DP World Tour events including a win at the Dubai Invitational. I love Tommy’s game for Pebble Beach and if gets a little breezy, good, get breezier! A possible 3 in a row?  Time will tell… 

Draft Kings DFS 3-Putt Pot

Each week I will give my three strongest value buys for DFS play. I am only getting you started, finishing your line up will be up to you!

• J. Thomas: $9,600

• B. Hossler $7,800

• T. Montgomery: $6,800

As always, please remember to gamble responsibly

LIV goes LIVE

The hottest player in the world, the current #1 ranked player in the world, and the best amateur turn pro in the world are set to tee it up at the historic Pebble Beach Golf Links in Northern California for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Nick Dunlap highlight a loaded field at the second Signature Event of the 2024 season. At stake, a $20 million purse with $3.6 million going to the winner.

Betting Favorite: Rory McIlroy (+750)

The DP World Tour makes its long anticipated return to the Kingdom of Bahrain for The Bahrain Championship presented by Banco Energies. Royal Golf Club will play host to the fourth event on the international swing and the first event in Bahrain since Paul Casey took home to the Volvo Golf Champions trophy at the same course in 2011.

Betting Favorite: Rasmus Hojgaard (+850)

LIV Golf tees off their 2024 season with a return to El Camaleon Golf Course in Mayakoba, Mexico for what is simply known as LIV Golf Mayakoba. Last season, Crushers GC (-26) took home both the team title and the individual title with Charles Howell III (-16) capturing the top honors.

Betting Favorite: Jon Rahm (+450)

Around the Game

🏌️ J.Lindberg unveiled the looks that the U.S. men and women will sport at the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. Nothing screams Team USA like some ultra form fitting, flamboyant threads made by a Scandinavian brand. The designers claimed to have drawn inspiration from France itself while incorporating elements of the Eiffel Tower within the design. J.Lindberg is contracted to also outfit the American’s for the 2028 Olympic Games held in Los Angeles which begs the question…. will they incorporate smog and heavy traffic into the future design?

🏌️ Anthony Kim is rumored to be making a comeback. Professional golf’s version of the Abominable Snowman has 3 PGA Tour wins to his credit but hasn’t played in an event in over 12 years. FWIW, his swing looks pretty nice for a dude who has been MIA for so long. A Tiger and Anthony Kim pairing at some point this season would be a small token from the golf gods in repentance for the last 18 months of nonsense.

🏌️ A cash infusion may be on the way for the PGA Tour but it’s not from the PIF. Sportico reports that the consortium of American sport team owners/investors known as the Strategic Sports Group is set to begin executing its investment in the PGA Tour as early as next week. The undisclosed amount is thought to be less than the $3 billion originally reported.

Daddy Smack It

🥃 Just A Good Ol Boy. Chance Taylor shows off his back country game in one of several old TikTok videos that made a resurgence and went viral over the weekend. Don’t let the ink and jorts fool you… this college standout and current pro has game!

🎸 Saban Sicko Mode. We mentioned a few issues back that newly retired Nick Saban would undoubtedly be putting some time in on the course but had no clue we would see the Travis Scott X Nick Saban eighteen-hole collab.

🎂 Married to the Game. One of the most legit grooms cakes you will ever put your eyes on. If my lovely wife is reading this.. store this idea away for my 50th.

🌈 Bringing sexy back. DJ Khaled shows off his new custom Miura Golf CB-302 Tiffany Blue clubs that match the interior of his new ride. Miura Golf is housed within the Justin Timberlake backed 8AM Golf portfolio of companies.

🏀 Prime time putter, baby! Stop me if you’ve read this but these full court putts for money are becoming a weekly occurrence. Check out the latest full courter for a 15-year old bottle of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon by a Louisville fan!